Peter Belsky pulls his Jeep out of the Saguaro dorm parking lot. It's a warm Thursday afternoon, and while most students are in class or tanning by the pool, Belsky is getting ready to go on a "treasure hunt."
"Sometimes I'll try to find little ones on campus on Saturday mornings," says the business freshman. "And there used to be one on 'A' Mountain."
In fact, there are 312 "hidden treasures" within a 10-mile radius of Tempe, and Belsky, 19, says people may walk by them every day without knowing they're there.
These treasures, otherwise known as caches, are part of geocaching, a game for users of global positioning system (GPS) units, which use satellites to pinpoint latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates.
The basic idea of geocaching is this: A person hides a cache in an inconspicuous location, such as a hollowed-out tree trunk covered with leaves, or underneath rocks. The person then records the latitude and longitude of the cache and posts in online at www.geocaching.com. Anyone with a GPS device can go to the site, pick out a set of coordinates in their area, and go out to find the cache, which can come in many forms and vary in size and content.
Nearly all caches have a logbook, which may contain people's names, the dates they found the cache, what they found in the cache, what they left in the cache and other random things from jokes to information about the area.
Many caches contain random, cheap items such as toy cars or troll dolls. Most geocachers bring something to leave in the cache and many take one item as a keepsake. Basically, geocaching is modern-day treasure hunting, no matter how insignificant the treasure might seem.
Caches can be in locations so remote, getting there requires heavy-duty equipment, or in places so public (including the ASU campus), one wonders how the average Joe doesn't find them.
Belsky says he started geocaching when he was a high school sophomore in Vail, Colo., as part of a class he was taking.
"There are caches where you find the initial cache, and then that will have a clue that will lead you to another one," Belsky says as he drives down Mill Avenue toward the two caches he's looking for today. "Some caches are take-a-thing, leave-a-thing. There are also event caches, like at a concert or something, where you post the GPS coordinates of where you're going to be, and then people come find you.
"There are two caches I think we can find today that shouldn't take too long," he says.
Belsky pulls up to Papago Park and pulls out his GPS unit.
"The caches I'm trying to find are microcaches, so they're going to be small," he says.
He adds that there are smaller caches that are usually encased in film canisters or something of similar size, while larger ones are big enough to hold multiple items such as books, CDs, photos, games, tools, maps, etc.
"This first cache is called 'Built to Last,' and it says we'll need to do light climbing," Belsky reads from a clue.
"Three blue stars rise on the hill. Say no more, now just be still," reads the clue. "All these trials soon be past. Look for something BUILT TO LAST!"
Belsky looks down at his GPS.
"OK, I think it's this way," he says as he begins to walk up a rocky hill. "Nope, we're going the wrong way. This is called the geocache dance."
Walking in circles, he repeats the clue.
"This is where it gets interesting, trying to figure out what they're saying," Belsky says. "Normally, when they give you some obscure quote, it means something. It's a matter of understanding the hint," he says.
He walks over to a covered picnic area made from stone.
"Now this would be something built to last," he says.
He begins to search the structure. Knowing that the clue involves light climbing, he climbs onto a flat area of the stone and looks up toward the roof.
"I found it," he says. "It's in a magnetic hide-a-key box."
He pulls the tiny container from the metal structure of the picnic area. It contains a Grateful Dead sticker, a mini notebook that has "Built to Last" written on it, a foam dragonfly and a piece of plastic with "Paradise" written on it. In the notebook, geocachers have written their names, dates and a list of what they have taken and left behind.
Belsky writes, "ASU devils rule" and places the cache back where he found it.
Next stop: The mountainous area of Papago Park.
"The cache is located on a small rock formation overlooking the southern end of Papago Park," the clue reads. "The cache container contains a log sheet only and blends in extremely well with its environment."
Belsky leads the way up the mountain. The only evidence of being in Tempe out here are the broken beer bottles that litter the mountain.
Even with a GPS unit and a former Boy Scout leading the way, this cache is seriously hard to find. After about 20 minutes of searching, Belsky finds it.
"You have to look for unnatural rock formations," he says as he picks up a rock from a group of three.
He flips over the rock to reveal an Altoid-like container spray-painted and glued to the rock, which was painted to blend in with its surroundings. Opening the box, Belsky reveals a fake lizard, a kokopelli necklace pendant, a heart-shaped stone and a log sheet.
After writing "ASU SPM" and the date on the sheet, he treks back down the mountain and jumps in his Jeep.
"I like to play with my toys and GPS is a good one," he says as he drives back to campus. "Sometimes, it will take you to a really cool place you would have never thought of going before."
Reach the reporter at heather.wells@asu.edu.
